Work Text:
December 2026
“So, should I just order for 5 of us?”
“Make it 10,” Oh says from the other end of the phone. “I invited a couple of my high school friends too. And I can just eat the leftovers the next day.”
“Why can’t you order food for your own party?” Q says, despite already writing down 10 and circling the number on a sticky note.
“You are the only vegan in the group.” Oh laughs, and Q can hear flight announcements in the background. “I wanted to give you the option to order whatever you want to eat.”
“Liar. You know the 3 vegan restaurants that I like. You are just lazy.” Q mumbles and Oh keeps laughing. “You are dropping Teh off?”
“Hmm,” Oh replies. “I wish I can take time off for a vacation too. It’s criminal that work gets extra busy at seasonal times.”
“You literally went back to Phuket last week. Don’t whine.” Q stretches his legs on his way-too-large sofa. The house is quiet without the usual ruckus of his friends, because everyone is either too tired after work or too caught up in their lives to come over like they usually did when they were back in school. Q wonders if it’s gonna be like this from now.
He is not sure if he likes that.
“So, I guess Teh still can’t make it to your new year party?”
“Yeah, he had shooting queues lined up all through Christmas and New Year. Something about rookie actors having to work harder.”
“Well, you wanted to date a rookie actor.”
“I didn’t want to date a rookie actor.” Oh replies, affronted. “I wanted to date Teh.”
“Shocker.” Q laughs.
“Gotta go.” Oh says. “Help me get the food delivered around 7, alright? I still have to go to work on the eve.”
Q says his bye and hangs up, switching to the browser app to order food. He’s just gonna get the main dishes from this vegan restaurant that he likes and maybe some barbeques from some other place because Auu would be whining until Songkran if he didn’t order meat for him.
The recommended Articles for You section in Google homepage that greets him has Teh in the top article, which is not a new sight. Every entertainment and news portal that he visited during the last few days had Teh and Oh in their top articles.
Mang has taken it upon himself to reply to every single negative comment on any article he sees and even on Twitter. He says it’s not because he is on Teh’s side but rather because of his natural instinct for drama and stan wars, but Q knows it’s because of Oh. They love Oh more than whatever their feelings are for Teh, and if Oh wants him back, then well, who are they to stand in the way of love he guesses.
Q takes his eyes off of a smiling Teh in the article picture and types in the name of the restaurant. If you ask him, Q thinks Teh is extremely lucky. Of course, he doesn’t know Teh that much or is aware of what kind of struggles and issues he might be facing, but to be loved this much by any person, let alone by someone like Oh Aew, Q thinks Teh is luckiest person on earth. He just hopes Teh realises that this time.
*
“I can’t believe you outvoted me from going to a New Year beach party.” Mang complains for what is probably the 10th time for tonight. And it is barely even 10 PM. “... for this.”
“What? Isn’t this fun?” Oh says, gesturing around his living room and finishing the drink in his hand. “I don’t have the energy to dress up and go out after an entire day of work. Plus, you don’t need to travel back home so you can drink as much as you want. Isn’t this convenient?”
Auu scoffs in contempt. “You are already speaking like some middle-aged office drone after barely six months of working. You might turn into a monk after a few years.”
“You are leaving later to go meet the girl you are seeing anyway.” Mang says. “Don’t complain.”
“Girl?” Oh perches up, bumping his shoulder into Q as a question. “When did that happen? What happened to the guy last week?”
Q shrugs back because he didn’t know either. It is easier to keep track of the hundreds of memes Mang sent to their group chat than to keep track of Auu’s love life.
“He has a really weird laughing face.”
“Auu!” Oh says, offended for some reason. “That’s not a reason to break up with someone. Teh has a really weird laughing face too!”
“Aew,” Auu blinks. “I went on 2 dates with the guy. He is not my star-crossed childhood soulmate that my heart only beats for.”
Oh flushes a bit and sinks into his sofa. Q pats his thighs in consolation. Truth can sometimes be embarrassing, he thinks.
The doorbell rings at the right timing and Plug, who was coming out of the kitchen yells out an “I got it” before heading to the door.
“Oh, you must be Oh Aew’s friends.” Q tilts his head to see a couple and a guy at the door, awkwardly holding a champagne bottle.
“Guys!” Oh jumps up and heads to the door, shaking hands and gesturing them in. “Hey guys. These are my high school friends - Mod and Karakade. And this is Bas.”
Right. The ex. Honestly, Q was shocked when Oh told him about that simply because he couldn’t comprehend Oh being with someone other than Teh, but then Oh said that they broke up because of Teh and Q remembers thinking ‘ ah there’s the Oh I know ’
They make small talk and get on fine since they are all around the same age and have more or less similar backgrounds. Then, Auu has to leave around 11 to make it on time for the countdown with his new beau, and the party breaks up, with Mod and his girlfriend going out to the balcony, and Mang and Plug retreating to Oh’s bedroom (with the condition of leaving the door open but Plug probably won’t do anything indecent in Oh’s house even if the same couldn’t be said for his boyfriend).
That left Q, Bas and Oh in the living room, finishing the champagne bottle that Bas brought and talking. Bas works PR for a relatively large conglomerate and while their fields aren’t exactly the same, it overlaps a lot so the conversation is easy going and Bas has the kind of calming presence that Q rarely finds around him.
It isn’t the most fun party that Q have been to, and he might start putting on his playlist and get to dancing soon before the clock strikes 12 to liven up things a little bit, but he is good with this comfortable atmosphere for now.
Until the doorbell rings and Oh looks at them in question before standing up. “Maybe Auu forgot something.”
“He left a while back though?” Bas leans over and says as Oh leaves to the door.
“Right. He’s not gonna make it back -”
“Teh!”
Q leaves his sentence unfinished and turns to the door where, yeah, there he is, the prodigal son, standing at the door with a bouquet of roses and smiling like he intends to blind people with it.
“I got a flight back.” The door, unfortunately, is not that far from where Q and Bas are sitting so they can hear everything. “Didn’t want to tell you anything in case I couldn’t make it, but well, I did.”
Q turns around in time to not see them fall into each other’s arms.
“Well,” he gives a small laugh at Bas. “Romeo returns.”
“I think they are more Titania and Bottom.” Bas whispers back.
“That is so mean!” Q laughs, in shock, because that sounds uncharacteristically mean coming from Bas.
“I have my moments.” Bas laughs but Q can tell that it is all in good fun, especially when he greets Teh with an equally bright smile.
“Hey Q.” Teh waves an awkward hand at him before sitting down on the other end of the sofa, and Q gives him a polite smile back. He thinks the last time he saw Teh in the flesh was when he ran out of Q’s house in tears last year. Well, what do you even say to that ….
Funnily enough, the only person that does not look visibly awkward here is Oh, probably thanks to his tunnel vision of not seeing anyone around when Teh is there. Q wonders if this is considered a love square but is it still a square if only two points are connected?
Luckily they get saved by Mod and his girlfriend who came back into the living room at the sound of Teh.
“You want more food?” Q points at the empty plate in front of Bas.
“Ah, that’s fine. I’ll get it myself.” Bas says but Q is already picking up his plate.
“That’s fine. I need another drink anyway.”
Bas follows him into the kitchen, leaving Teh and Oh to catch up with Mod, and Q opens a new soju bottle to fill both of their empty cups.
“Since when?” Bas asks and Q looks up at him.
“Hmm?”
“Since when have you been in love with Oh Aew?”
Q’s hand that’s pouring soju into the cup stops.
“That obvious, huh?”
“Let’s just say it’s easy to recognise yourself in others.” Bas says, picking up a bruschetta. “It was about 5 or 6 years ago for me.”
“Still?” Q asks, not sure if that’s impressive or sad.
“No. Thank god.” Bas laughs. “You?”
“Started a while back,” Q shrugs, handing Bas his drink. “I didn’t start hoping until they broke up but well, you know how the story goes.”
“I know too well unfortunately” Bas raises an eyebrow.
“Well, at least you dated.”
“Trust me. That’s worse.” Bas laughs. “I sometimes wished I never tried. I always kind of knew, you know, that Teh would be it for him but I wanted to hope.”
“Yeah,” Q nods. He, too, knows this feeling and this story well too. “Well, here’s to mad love.”
Bas clicks his cup against Q’s raised one. “May we be safe from it.”
*
May 2027
When Q looks down at his phone and sees a Line notification from Bas, he thought Bas was just asking him for dinner or something.
He moved places about 2 months back because despite them not being around much, his house is still his parents’ and he wanted a place of his own. Plus, downsizing makes sense since everyone gets together less frequently than they used to.
Bas recommended his condo buildings, which were fairly new and not a bad distance from Q’s office so he moved into the same compound, a couple of blocks away from Bas’ place. And since both of their offices were downtown, it makes sense to grab dinner together a couple of days a week before heading home.
But Bas’ Line message simply says “giving you a heads up. Check Oh’s IG. I have client meetings so I’m turning my phone off.”
And lo and behold, it’s a picture of the gloomy sky with a sad cloud emoji on Oh’s IG. It’s 36 degrees outside with the sun blasting unbearable heat. Q doesn’t even want to know how many filters Oh had put this photo through to make it look this depressing.
“I talked to him last time too.” He texted Bas back who is already offline. Coward. “Fine :| But you owe me dinner.”
And funnily enough, Oh asks him for tea break by 4. Sometimes Q wonders if it is really good that Oh’s and his offices are across the road from each other.
“What’s wrong now?” Q says as a greeting at a sulky Oh who is playing with the straw in his smoothie. At least he is decent enough to order Q his tea latte.
“Nothing. I don’t meet you only when something is wrong, you know.”
“I know but you are sulking, both physically and digitally.” Q says, taking his seat across Oh. “Did Teh do something again?”
“No,” Oh stabs his straw into his glass. “That’s the problem. He’s been too nice.”
“I’m sorry?” Q blinks. “Are you honestly complaining to me because your boyfriend is too … nice?”
“Well, I mean,” Oh pouts. “Teh is not nice. Wait, that’s not what I mean. I don’t want to make him sound like a complete ass. But he’s always been stubborn and unrelenting, you know. But I feel like he’s been too careful with me ever since we got back together. We haven't fought a single time. Even when we first got together, we’d get into these petty fights almost every week. And now, it’s like he’s walking on eggshells around me like I’m a timebomb.”
Q thinks there are not enough tea lattes in the world for him to be dealing with this on a Wednesday afternoon.
“Maybe he has matured?” He tries and Oh gives a dismissive laugh.
“Teh? Please.”
“Oh,” Q sighs. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. Do you want me to ask you to pick a fight with him or something?”
“I know. I know.” Oh sighs, puts his face on his palms and smiles at Q. “I’m gonna talk to him. I just want to complain, you know.”
Q laughs at that. “Well, I subjected myself to that 5 years ago when you sat down in front of me and cried, didn’t I?”
Oh gives him a pretty glare before going back to his smoothie.
“Q? Am I a bad friend?”
“Hey,” Q looks up at that, and sees Oh’s frowning eyebrows. “You are not. I am always happy to listen, you know that.”
“But it always feels so one directional.” Oh says. “You don’t tell me anything.”
“I do.” Q frowns. “I complain to you constantly about my annoying coworkers and my upstairs neighbours.”
“Well, yeah, but not about your love life.” Oh replies.
“Oh, I don’t have as dramatic of a love life as you.” Q laughs and Oh bites his lips unsurely. And Q knows, that Oh feels guilty - even though he shouldn’t, even though they hadn’t said anything out loud.
“Oh, I am fine, really.” Q sighs and says. “It’s hard to date as an adult unless you are actively trying to, and I am too busy these days to do that. Plus, I’ve heard enough horror stories from Auu to even consider online dating.”
“Yeah, true.” Oh nods, smiling finally. “I want you to be happy. You know that, right?”
“I am.” Q nods because he is. “And I will continue to be. Don’t worry about me.”
*
Bas doesn’t reply to his messages so Q drives back straight to home after work. He had some leftovers so he’s gonna just heat them up and it’s gonna be just him and some random Netflix show tonight, he guesses. Plus, they are planning their yearly vacation with the group and as always, the planning falls on him so tonight would be a good time for him to get started on his European itinerary research as well.
Bas texted him when he was stuck in the usual traffic though, asking him if he had dinner yet, and when Q said he was already on his way back, they settled on Bas getting some takeaways for them.
Q has a 3-bedroom place, significantly larger than Bas’s 1BR, because Q didn’t want to downsize that much (and he needs extra beds because his place is still the de facto gathering place) so when they are eating in, they usually just do it at Q’s.
Bas reaches around 8 - the traffic must have been worse than he thought - and holds up the paper bag with the logo of Q’s favorite restaurant.
“You drove all the way over there?” Q asks and opens the door for Bas to come in.
“Wanted to say sorry about dumping Oh Aew on you.” Bas laughs. “Plus, it’s not that far of a drive and I like their beetroot chips.”
It is a far enough drive because it is literally 25 minutes drive in the opposite direction, but Q decides not to say anything. It is nice, he thinks, to be taken care of once in a while.
*
January 2028
“I still can’t believe you tagged along.” Mang shouts over the thumping beat of the loud house music vibrating across the club. “You always say no when we go clubbing!”
“Well, you guys needed a designated driver.” Bas smiles even when Auu dives his head straight into his lap and collapses in a drunk haze. “Is he gone?”
“Give him two minutes. He’ll be up and making trouble soon enough.” Q says, moving the designer bag that could only be Oh’s from the long lounge couch and settles down next to Bas. He is already buzzed enough for the night and he is starting to hate hangovers lately so he shakes his head when Mang offers him an amber glass.
Mang drowns the whiskey by himself before stumbling to close the door of the private room they are in.
“Can’t believe Teh got us a private room in one of the most exclusive clubs in town.” Auu mumbles from Bas’ lap and Q sighs as the noise cuts off and shifts into something more ambient rather than assaulting.
“That’s what you get,” Mang turns and says, pointing a finger at them. “... when we adopted a guy who ended up dating actor of the year. Q, best decision you’ve ever made in life.”
Q scoffs, reaching up to open Oh’s bag to take out the stack of papers and a little ziplock bag that Oh showed him earlier.
“Oh, are you rolling already?” Mang plunges himself into the loveseat and stretches. “One for me too.”
Bas pokes his shoe into Q’s ankle. “I’m driving later.”
“Which is why you are not getting any.” Q laughs when Bas pouts. “I’ll roll you some over the weekend. Come over.”
Bas nods easily and picks up his red bull glass instead.
“By the way, are they fighting again?” Auu asks. “Oh and Teh. How come Teh didn’t come?”
“I’m sure Oh will tell you all about it when he gets back.” Mang laughs.
And soon enough, Oh and Plug stumble into the room, hands around each other and sweat dripping from their equally oily faces.
“Had fun?” Mang asks as Plug dives into his chest and Oh collapses next to Q, head nuzzling into Q’s biceps like a house cat.
“We didn’t even last …” Oh looks down at his watch. “... 20 minutes? Damn.”
“Title of your sex tape.” Mang chuckles and immediately yelps when Oh throws the lighter at him.
“I need that.” Q tsks and Bas leans over to get it back from Mang.
“I wouldn’t even make it 5 minutes on the dance floor.” Bas says to Oh, almost in consolation. “It looks so suffocating.”
“We used to dance until the club closed, not even a second break to sit down.” Auu says, finally getting up and stealing one of the blunts that Q’ve been working on.
“We are all old now. Deal with that.” Q says.
“We are 25, not dead.” Auu complains. “Isn’t this supposed to be the prime of our life?”
But even so, none of them thinks about going back out into the heart of the club again, content to just smoke and talk. Mang and Plug are finally moving in together so their talks turn to housing and Auu, who had been thinking of changing his career into the real estate industry, pulls out his phone, potential places already locked and loaded.
“So,” Q takes a last inhale from his almost gone blunt, waves the smoke so it doesn’t get into Bas’ face, and pokes at Oh. “... where’s your other half? Too busy to grace us with his presence?”
Oh grumbles a hmph.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have given him an opening.” Bas leans down to whisper into Q’s ear and Q laughs, moving until he is lying against Bas’ chest, head on his shoulder. He might as well be comfortable if he is gonna have to listen to Oh.
“We are … doing time-out for now.” Oh says eventually. That’s the thing they came up with last year. Oh says it’s because Teh is so hot-blooded that he’d not think but say anything that comes to his mind when they are fighting and he is angry at things. So, they figured out the best way to deal with their problems is to take some time-out until both of them calm down enough to talk to each other like adults.
Q thinks it is good that they have figured out a way to deal with their problems level-headedly. He also thinks that it is fucking hiliarious. He is considering giving Teh a time-out chair as a gag gift for his birthday.
“What is it this time? Did he try to fix something and break half of your condo again?”
“No. He …” Oh sighs. “He wants kids.”
Even Bas lets out a cough at that.
“For real?” Auu, who has the gift of eavesdropping on every conversation within 2km of him, turns around and asks. “I mean, it is not impossible but it’s not gonna be easy, legality and what not.”
“I know, right?” Oh rolls his eyes. “He says it doesn’t have to be right now, but he wants to in the future. And I don’t know, I’ve never thought about having kids to be honest.”
“Why is he suddenly so paternal?” Bas asks. “I don’t ever remember him talking about kids.”
“His sister in law is pregnant.”
“Oh wow.” Bas replies. “Give my congrats to Hoon, by the way.”
“Yeah.” Oh flops his head onto the backrest of the couch and smokes out a ring. “Good for them, but now my boyfriend is having baby fever.”
“I mean,” Q starts. “... if it is for the future, you guys can talk over time, right?”
“Yeah.” Oh nods. “But just that, I really have never thought about kids? Not to mention that we are both so busy and he’s the one with an erratic schedule. Hell, I left my plants with him when I had to go to the States for my workshops and he killed half of them.”
Plug giggles, probably remembering Oh’s breakdown over his beloved house plants that he’s been growing for years.
“Not funny!” Oh glares. “Anyway, I’ve been talking to Top too. He says maybe we should start with like a pet or something. Get used to the responsibilities.”
“Don’t let Teh kill your future dog, Oh.” Mang laughs. “That’d be so sad.”
“Shut up. Maybe we’ll get fish or something. I’ve had pet fish before. I can do that. Or a cat.” Oh’s eyes brighten up. “That’d be cute. I’ve been into ragdolls lately.”
Q just shakes his head and laughs, and Oh turns to him. “And if both of us are not at home, we can just drop it off at Q’s.”
“No. What the fuck.” Q kicks at Oh. “I’m already running free couple therapy sessions for the two of you. I can’t open a pet center for you as well.”
Oh laughs, too much actually, giggling and eventually curling into his stomach in laughter. Yeah, the weed is probably starting to hit. Oh has a laughing high - Q just feels sleepy.
“Is your baby daddy still talking to you or do I have to drop you back as well?” Bas asks, all the while handing Q a throw pillow. Q didn’t even know this room had throw pillows. Or maybe Bas is just Mary Poppins. Q laughs at that, thinking about Bas in a Victorian dress coming down from the sky with his magic umbrella and magic bag.
He takes the throw pillow and buries his head into it, eyes already feeling heavy.
“He’s picking me up.” Oh is saying. “Can you help me text him at least? I don’t know where my phone is.”
“It’s literally hanging from your neck.” Bas says, but Q can feel him move behind him, probably taking his phone out.
“Take a nap if you want.” Bas whispers, hand squeezing at Q’s waist. “Everyone’s crashing. I’ll wait for Teh and wake you up when we are leaving.”
“Hmm ok.” Q nods. “Thanks, Mary.”
He laughs at Bas’s confused what , and closes his eyes, colored kaleidoscopes turning like magic umbrellas behind his closed eyelids.
*
When Q wakes up, slightly drowsy and extremely hungry, he is still in the club room but alone. He takes the complimentary wet towel and wipes it all across his face, making himself a little more awake to make sure he is not dreaming or still high.
The door to the room opens accompanied by the sharp music and Bas enters, raising his eyebrows when he sees Q.
“You are awake? That’s fast.”
“Imm.” Q nods. “Have you dropped the others off already?”
“Nah, Teh says he’ll do that. Oh’s already passed out and Auu said Mang and Plug can stay at his place. I just helped them to his car.”
“Cool.” Q says, stretching. “Let’s head home then.”
“Let’s.” Bas smiles at him, holds the door open so Q can get out.
*
“Here.” Bas hands him a paper box when Q gets into the front seat of his car. Q opens it to see two brownies.
Bas shrugs when Q looks at him in question. “I asked Teh to drop by and get something on his way here. I know you get hungry after you smoke.”
Q looks down at the two brownies, creams on top almost melted and crashing against each other.
“Hey Bas.” Q turns and says. “Should we date?”
Bas’s hand turning the car keys stops and he turns to face Q. “Are you still high?”
“No.” Q laughs. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
“Have you now?”
He has, actually. He thought about it on the nights when Bas came over with Q’s portion of groceries - Bas had taken up to shopping at the slightly more expensive vegan friendly hypermart for Q. He thought about it when he asked for Bas’ letterbox key because Bas always forgets to check his mail, and keeps it piling in the box. He thought about it on lazy Sunday mornings, Bas next to him on the couch laughing at the Office episodes that both of them had watched at least twenty times.
“Bas.” Q asks. “Do you like me?”
“I think,” Bas smiles. “Confessions are supposed to start with I like you. ”
“I like you.” Q says, without hesitation. “Is that a good enough confession for you?”
“Not the most romantic confession I’ve had, but it’s alright, I guess.” Bas smiles.
“You don’t really strike me as an over the top, cheesy one-knee-on-the-ground type of romantic person.”
“How do you know?” Bas asks, leans his head on the headrest, somehow bringing it closer to Q. “Maybe I want you to push me against the door and kiss me breathless.”
“Get out then.” Q laughs. “Let’s go find a door.”
Bas giggles, honest to god, face somehow looking babier.
“I think,” Q says, holding the brownie box on his lap. “... we’d be good for each other. I can give you an entire list of the reasons why. But ..”
“But what?” Bas asks at Q’s slight pause.
“But,” Q turns his face, staring into Bas’ eyes. “... despite all those reasons, I think I just like being around you and with you. I like you, really.”
Bas smiles, gentle like the evening breeze on Q’s balcony on the nights they stay up and talk. “I like you too.”
Q smiles, and scrunches his nose. “I know.”
“Do you now?” Bas raises an eyebrow.
“Hmm.” Q shrugs. “Let’s try then. Let’s go on a date this weekend. What do you wanna do?”
“We already booked Saturday dinner at The Green Door, remember?” Bas reminds him.
“Oh, right.” Q plops a brownie into his mouth and says. “Movie?”
“Nothing new we haven’t watched.”
That’s true too.
“Go somewhere fun?”
“Didn’t we go to that museum exhibition last weekend?”
“Bas?” Q asks, blinks his eyes at Bas in slow realisation. “Have we been dating all this time and not know about that?”
Bas laughs, and laughs, and laughs. All the way through the drive home.
Q ends up kissing Bas against the car door in their basement carpark anyway.
*
March 2028
They didn’t get a chance to tell Oh that they were dating. It is not out of intention, really. They didn’t get together after they went clubbing and Oh was busy with the new kitten that he and Teh adopted. Plus, he took 3 weeks off to go travelling around the US with Teh for his birthday so there are a lot of topics more exciting to talk about then Q’s relationship.
Plus, Q does not want to say this kind of thing over Line.
Auu and Mang gave them a “ took you long enough ” talk, and Plug was the only one decent enough to say “Happy for you” when they had dinner together when Oh was overseas.
Q was planning on having dinner with Oh and telling him about them when Oh has things slow down on his ends for a bit, but turns out he doesn’t need to after all.
Oh busted into his place on a Saturday morning, Q barely awake when he opens the door to a nervous and pacing Oh, who stomps past him into Q’s living room.
“What’s wrong with you?” Q asks, rubbing at his sleep-ridden eyes and wondering if he had missed anything.
“I think,” Oh turns around and says. He is dressed in a simple shirt and shorts like he just runs out of his house and his hair is sticking up in the back. “... I think Teh is going to propose.”
“Wow jeez. Ok.” Q says, heading over to the kitchen. He is probably gonna need coffee for this. “So, why are you here? Do you need me to nudge him into any direction that you want the proposal to be?”
“I am gonna say no.” Oh says and Q stops in his way.
“Oh Aew?” He turns and sees Oh Aew not looking at him but focused somewhere else, his eyes slightly teary but sharp. That’s the thing about Oh. He is soft and pliant most of the time, but when he makes up his mind on something, even God himself with an army of a thousand angels can’t change his mind. “Why? I thought you guys are doing fine.”
“Because …” Oh breathes out “...he’s been acting weirdly, like he’s hiding something from me, and talking on his phone in secret.”
“Because he was trying to plan a proposal?”
“He was.” Oh nods. “He was talking to Hoon and Top. But the thing is when I noticed that, the first thing I thought was he is cheating on me again.”
“Oh.” Q crosses the room, takes Oh Aew by hand and sits him down on the sofa.
“So, I took his phone and checked through the messages and call logs this morning. That’s how I found out.”
Q sighs.
“And I shouldn’t have done that, and it’s not fair to him that my mind immediately went there when he had given me no reason to do so for the past two years, but I can’t help it.”
“Hey, it’s ok.” Q rubs his hand up and down Oh’s arm. “It’s not your fault if you still have doubt.”
Oh leans back, wipes a tear from the corner of his eyes. “I don’t want him to think that I don’t want to commit because I do. I really, really do. But I still remember everything and I don’t think I am ready yet. I want … I need to be absolutely sure before I make a commitment like that. But what if he thinks it’s because I don’t love him enough?”
“Oh, he has to be the dumbest person alive to think that you of all people don’t love him enough.” Q says. “Tell him about all this if you are not ready then. He will understand.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Oh worries his lips and asks.
“Do you think he won’t?” Q asks him back. “I mean, you told me before that things are going well with Teh, right? If that’s true, he will understand your side.”
“I think he will.” Oh nods. “But I don’t want him to be sad too. First, the kids topic and now this. It’s like I keep saying no to him.”
“But you have valid reasons to.” Q pats at him. “Didn’t you say before that you can talk to him about anything after you got back together? So, talk to him. Don’t let him go on with it because you know he is planning something probably expensive and dumb. And also there’s a high chance that it’d be public.”
“Right. Yeah, I know that.” Oh nods. “I am sorry I woke you up. I just … panicked this morning and didn’t know where to go.”
“You just want to complain. I got it.” Q nods.
“Q.” Oh grabs at his hand. “I am really glad that I sat down in front of you on that day, you know that, right?”
“I know.” Q squeezes Oh’s hand back. “I’m glad too. Free entertainment in my life.”
“Shut up.” Oh rolls his eyes and laughs. “Come over tomorrow if you are free. I’ll introduce you to Tuty.”
“Is she still shedding?” Q asks, finally getting up to make his coffee.
“Terribly.” Oh flops onto the sofa and says lightly, like he wasn’t the one about to break down just now. “Teh got this new robot vacuum cleaner that’s supposed to be excellent at getting rid of cat’s hair but I keep finding them everywhere.”
“Good thing none of us is allergic then.” Q said, turning his coffee machine on. He barely hears the sound of his bedroom door getting opened before Bas steps out.
“Hey, Q … what’s … Oh Aew?”
“Bas?” Oh stands up immediately, eyes widen and mouth open like a shocked cartoon character. “What the hell? Isn’t that Q’s bedroom? Isn’t that … Q’s alumni shirt?”
“Good morning to you too, Oh.” Bas says unfazed, presses a kiss onto Q’s forehead before opening the fridge to take out his almond milk.
“What?” Oh splutters from the living room, hands gesturing wildly. “When did this happen?!”
“Two months back.” Bas says. “Q, you haven’t told him yet?”
“I was gonna.” Q shrugs. “Didn’t get a chance to.”
“Nobody ever tells me anything.” Oh pouts, absolute dramatics pouring out of him like he is the one that studied performance arts. “Do you not love me anymore?”
Bas laughs while Q scoffs and snaps a finger at Oh. “Hey, drama queen, go back to your house and talk to your boyfriend before he sends the down payment for a skywriter to propose.”
“Propose?” Bas mouths and Q shakes his head. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Fine. Fine.” Oh sighs, twirling his car keys in his hand. “Kick me out now that you have a man in your bed.”
“Shut up.” Q laughs.
“Tomorrow.” Oh points a finger at him. “Dinner at my place. Both of you.”
“Dinner or potential Spanish Inquisition?” Bas laughs and Oh sticks a tongue out at him before leaving.
“Should we get a cat too?” Q asks, holding his hand out until Bas gets a cup from the overboard cupboard and hands it to him.
“This soon?” Bas asks. “But I think I’d prefer dogs.”
“Yeah? I don’t mind either actually.” Q nods. “You want avocado toast?”
“Always.” Bas answers, presses a kiss to his bare shoulder and heads into the living room. Q smiles after him.
He thinks life should always be this easy.